Red String
by Angelic Sakura Blossom
Summary: When Sakura was young she ran away from home, taking refuge in the Satellite. There she meets and befriends Yusei Fudo. Years later she joins him in his journey to New Domino City and the plot of the Crimson Dragon.
1. Chapter 1

A helicopter flew over the destroyed Satellite. Inside the helicopter was a little 7 year old girl. Her soft pink hair reached her waist. She wore a dark pink dress with a black waist band. There was a white flower on the waistband. A small over the shoulder bag was resting in her lap, her gloved hands covering it.

"Sakura, you do remember the importance of this, right?" her father asked. The pink haired girl looked up at her dad before nodding and watching the helicopter land. "Good, I want you to stay by my side…don't wander off," he ordered. Sakura nodded quietly and took his hand. "I would prefer a verbal response every once in a while…" he sighed before going off the plane, and meeting with a man in a suit.

"Mr. Takeno Haruno! So glad you could make it," he greeted, shaking his hand.

"Same to you Mr. Fugaku Uchiha," Takeno nodded.

"I did not realize this was a family event," Fugaku muttered, staring down at Sakura.

"Her mother was busy, the nanny's baby is sick so she's at the hospital, and the staff is too busy getting ready for a party," Takeno chuckled. "But, she's a silent child, so she won't disrupt us much."

"I would hope she doesn't," Fugaku nodded. The trio walked through the streets, easily avoiding any trash.

* * *

><p>The trio arrived at a warehouse that was being built.<p>

"We expect the factory to be able to mass-produce the parts for the new duel disks," Fugaku told him.

"And with the amount of people in the Satellite, we have plenty of workers," Takeno nodded in agreement.

"Yes," Fugaku nodded. "If you follow me I can show you the blueprints for the design, and the expectations." Takeno nodded and followed him through the building. He didn't notice that Sakura stayed at the front, looking over the warehouse.

"Who the heck are you?" a boy asked, walking over to her. Sakura stared at him for a while before turning back to the warehouse and walking towards it. The boy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Where do you think you're going? He asked you a question," one of his friends asked.

"Let me go," Sakura said, tugging on her arm. That only made the kid grip her arm tighter.

"Who are you? We haven't seen you around these parts, and you look way too rich to be a resident," his third friend sneered.

"What's going on here?" A new boy asked. He had black hair with yellow highlights. Sakura tilted her head, looking at his hair. No matter the angle, it looked like a crab.

"None of your business Yūsei Fudō," the first boy hissed.

"It _is_ our business when you start picking on a defenseless girl," an orange haired boy huffed.

"Look, just get away from her okay?" a blonde boy demanded, shoving the first kid.

"Jack, we don't want a fight," Yūsei reminded him, holding his arm back.

"Fine," Jack huffed.

"Hey, you okay?" the orange haired boy asked Sakura. The pinkette looked at them warily before nodding. "That's a relief." He turned back to the first three boys and glared at them. "Leave her alone! Just let her be!"

"Fine," the boys huffed, walking away.

"You sure you're alright?" the blue haired boy asked.

"Kalin, give her some space," Yūsei sighed.

"Are you sure, they were gripping your arm pretty tightly." the orange haired boy asked.

"Crow," Jack sighed.

"What, I'm just curious," Crow shrugged.

"It's fine," Sakura sighed. "I'm not defenseless."

"Sorry, but it seemed like it to me," Crow apologized.

"Well I'm not," Sakura huffed.

"Crow," Yūsei said.

"I'm just trying to find out if she's okay," Crow said.

"Well she says she is," Yūsei said.

"Can you please not start a fight," Sakura asked.

"Sorry," Yūsei told her.

"You're not from around here, are you?" the blue haired boy asked. Sakura believes he was called 'Kalin'.

"Nice observation," Sakura said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"I like this one," the blonde said. 'Jack', if Sakura remembered correctly. Also, he had a strange accent. But she just couldn't place it. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, studying him. This made Jack a little nervous. Actually, he was more uncomfortable than anything. "Uh...can I help you?"

"Your accent," Sakura commented.

"I've always had it," Jack said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What kind of accent is it?" she demanded.

"Um, a vocal one?" Jack answered unsure of what she was looking for.

"Are all blondes idiots, or just the ones I know?" Sakura huffed. She leaned back, glaring at him.

Crow began laughing, gripping his stomach. "Man, I like this girl! What's your name?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno."

"I'm Crow Hogan," The orange haired boy introduced, holding his hand out. Sakura looked at it. She glanced up, watching his smiling face. She slowly shook his hand, and before she knew it, the other boys were introducing themselves.

"I'm Jack Atlas." That was the blondie.

"The name's Kalin Kessler." So she had gotten the blue haired one right as well.

"My name's Yūsei Fudō."

"You're a polite girl," Kalin said. Sakura glared at him.

"I think she knows that," Yūsei said.

"Hey, do you know how to duel?" Crow suddenly asked.

"You're referring to Duel Monsters, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, you know how to play?" Crow asked, taking out his deck.

"I am familiar with the game, but I don't know much about it," Sakura said. "My nanny helped me build a deck but I never learned how to properly play."

"Well then we can teach you!" Kalin said excitedly. Sakura fished out her deck and nodded.

"I don't have the whole thing, so I hope that will be okay," Sakura said.

"That should be fine," Crow said. "C'mon, let's go!"

* * *

><p>"And if you use this card after Flower Maiden, you'll be able to double her attack," Crow said, placing a card next to Flower Maiden.<p>

"Chose a card to attack," Jack told her. Sakura looked at the cards across from her and pointed at one. Kalin groaned and took it away.

"Why am I the test dummy?" He asked.

"Because you don't have a complete deck either," Yūsei said.

"Alright, what are you life points?" Jack asked.

Kalin sighed and crossed his arms "500."

The boys turned to Sakura, who moved her fingers and counted in her head. "1200, I think."

"You are so going to lose," Jack snickered at Kalin.

"Shut up, Atlas," Kalin huffed.

"You'll only need to hit him once to win," Yūsei said.

"**SAKURA HARUNO!"** An irate voice screamed out. Sakura squeaked, the cards falling out of her hands. She turned around quickly and saw her father.

She had never seen her father so mad. His ears were bright red, and a blood vessel was popping out on his forehead. Fugaku was behind him, shaking his head and looking at her in disappointment. Sakura shrank back.

"Get over here, now!" Takeno demanded. Sakura gulped and slowly walked forward. "What the hell were you thinking?" Her father shouted.

"I'm sorry," Sakura muttered.

"I can't believe you would do this!" Takeno shouted. Sakura hung her head.

"Hey! Stop yelling at her!" Crow shouted.

"Crow!" Yūsei hissed, pulling him back.

"You, you filthy pathetic street brats, how dare you take my daughter from me!" Takeno growled.

"We didn't do crap, old man," Jack said fiercely.

"Jack," Yūsei growled. He grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him back, keeping both of them in a tight grip. Takeno glared at the kids before turning around and grabbing Sakura's arm.

"We're going now, young lady. When we get home you're going to be in so much trouble," Takeno threatened.

"Yes sir," Sakura answered.

"Hey wait!" Kalin shouted. "You forgot your cards!" He held up Sakura's deck. Sakura's eyes widened and she reached out a hand to take them back but her father spoke up.

"Keep them. She won't have time for such a childish game anyway," Takeno said, dragging her off. Sakura looked back at them, frowning.

The boys watched as Sakura was taken away from them.

"I guess we've got new cards," Kalin said sadly.

* * *

><p>Time passed since the eventful trip to the Satellite. When Sakura had returned home her parents had been so angry that she had been grounded, not to leave her room for one month. She also had her toys taken away, forcing her to do nothing but study.<p>

After one week, Sakura's performance in her lessons were slipping. In the middle of the second, she had destroyed her room. Her bed was shredded, her furniture knocked over, and her possessions destroyed. On the third week Sakura's parents were forced to lock the door to keep themselves and the rest of the household safe. By the fourth week, Sakura had calmed down, but she still felt angry. A little voice in her head was telling her to continue with her fit but she had tuned it out.

Coming into the extra fifth week, Sakura sat in a corner of her room, her eyes distant and her mind wandering. She looked up and surveyed her room. Something caught her eyes under a pile of clothes. She got up and walked over to it, picking up a card. It had a dragon with scales that shimmered in light and dark pinks.

Sakura looked up and stared out her window. The city lights illuminated the night sky. Across the bay she could see a dark outline of the destroyed ruins known as the Satellite. She looked down at the card in her hand. Sakura narrowed her eyes and rushed off to her closet.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura surveyed the boats currently docked. Dawn was approaching and there were several boats ready to dump trash to the Satellite. She crouched down as a few dock workers walked past the crate she had been hiding behind. She peeked above to make sure she was safe before running along the crates, making sure to try to stay out of sight.

She stopped behind one crate, which was in front of a trash boat ready to leave the dock. The were several dock workers surrounding it and for a moment Sakura was rethinking her plan. She sat down, her back against the crate. She took out her dragon card and looked at it. She nodded to herself and turned around, watching the workers. She glanced at the other boats and saw one ready to take off, but there were no workers around it.

Sakura crouched and ran for the boat. She climbed into the boat and curled under a tarp. Not long after she heard the motor and felt the boat move. She peeked out from under the tarp and watched the waves pass. She pulled back under the tarp and took out her card. She smiled and held the card to her chest.

* * *

><p>Sakura waited a moment after the boat stopped. She crawled out from under the tarp and stood up, coming face-to-face with the garbage man. They stared at each other in shock before the man moved to grab her. Sakura back up and jumped off the boat, running into the Satellite.<p>

"Get back here!" he shouted. Sakura ran into the wreckage, trying to get away from him as quickly as possible. She ran into a building. Not a moment later, the man ran buy. Sakura looked out the door and ran the opposite direction, smiling.

* * *

><p>"What do you guys want to do?" Kalin sighed as Crow asked that question once more.<p>

"There isn't anything to do," Jack said, tossing a pebble off the roof they were on.

"We could duel," Crow said.

"Yeah, like we haven't done that before," Kalin said with a huff.

"Maybe we could use Sakura's deck," Crow said.

"Good luck getting it away from him," Jack said. The three of them turned around and looked at Yūsei. He had Sakura's deck in front of him, looking through the cards carefully.

"He hasn't let those things go in a month," Kalin said.

"Think he's gonna use them?" Crow asked.

"I'll laugh if he does," Jack said bluntly.

"Yeah, Yūsei using a flower deck? That's hilarious," Kalin snickered.

"You know that I can hear you, right?" Yūsei asked, not looking up from the cards.

"Come on Yūsei, why don't we just split the cards and be done with it?" Kalin asked.

"As if, I'm not using a flower deck," Jack said.

"Then we'll give them to some of the other kids," Crow suggested.

"A near complete deck? No one will take it," Kalin said. "They'll think we stole it and they won't want anything to do with it because they don't want to get in trouble."

"Well we have to do something," Jack said. "We can't just hang onto it forever. It's not like she's coming back for it."

"Yeah, her dad seemed pretty pissed," Crow agreed.

"She's from the city, what do you expect?" Kalin said with a huff. "We'll never see her again and she'll probably never think of us again."

"What, did you get a crush on her?" Jack teased.

"No! It's just the truth!" Kalin said quickly. "I just think some of us need to realize that." He glanced over at Yūsei. Yūsei rolled his eyes and gathered the cards. He stood up and walked over to his friends.

"Fine, then what do you want to do with these?" Yūsei asked.

* * *

><p>Sakura frowned as she looked around. "I have no idea where I'm going," she said with a sigh. She sat down and sighed, looking up at the sky. "How am I ever supposed to find these guys?" She blinked as she saw a card flutter down to the ground. She stood up and grabbed the card, looking at it.<p>

"My Flower Maiden," Sakura muttered. She looked up as another card fell down. She turned around and back up, seeing the heads of four boys.

"HEY!" The boys jumped as a third card came down. They rushed to the edge of the roof and the five kids stared at each other in shock. There, above her, were the four boys Sakura had been searching for.

"You're back!" Crow said in shock.

"Yes, I am," Sakura nodded. She picked up the third card and looked back at them. "And what are you doing with my cards?"

"You're back," Kalin said in amazement.

"No, I'm just a figment of your imagination," Sakura said with a huff. "Yes I'm back, now answer the damn question!" Sakura jumped as a pile of rubble collapsed behind her. She ran forward to avoid the debris.

"Are you okay?" Yūsei asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura said.

"Stay there, we'll be down in a moment!" Yūsei shouted.

"That's not an answer!" Sakura yelled back as the four boys disappeared. Sakura huffed and looked around nervously, eying the rubble that had fallen. A rock fell from the top of the pile and she flinched. It rolled over to her feet and she glared at it.

"How dare you mock me," she said quietly. She heard the four boys come running up to her, surrounding her.

"What are you doing here?" Crow asked.

"I...I just came for my deck," Sakura said, holding the straps of her backpack.

"Then what's with the bag?" Jack asked.

"I didn't know how long I would be here," Sakura said, her cheeks turning pink. "I didn't know how long it would take to find you guys!"

"So you're leaving again?" Yūsei asked. He actually appeared to be quite sad at the thought.

"It depends," Sakura said, shifting nervously.

"Well if you're going to be here you've got to meet Martha!" Crow said.

"Martha?" Sakura asked.

"She's our foster mom," Yūsei told her.

"Well, it would only be polite," Sakura said.

* * *

><p>"So how'd you do it?" Kalin asked.<p>

"Do what?" Sakura asked.

"Get back to the Satellite. How'd you do it?" Kalin asked.

"Now, now Kalin, let her eat something first," Martha said. "Did you even have breakfast young lady?"

"No," Sakura said sadly. "I haven't eaten much the past few weeks."

"Well no wonder you look so skinny," Martha said, matting her head. "How about I make some lunch for everyone?"

"Yes please," Sakura said. Martha smiled and went into the kitchen. "You still haven't answered my question."

"What question?" Crow asked.

"Why were you throwing my cards off a roof?" Sakura asked.

"We thought you were never coming back," Kalin said.

"We weren't going to use the cards, so we were giving them away," Jack said.

"And you didn't just give them to someone?" Sakura said with a huff.

"They would have been suspicious," Jack told her. Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head. They sat quietly for a few minutes. Sakura shuffled through her cards, looking them over.

"Do you have the rest of your deck?" Jack asked suddenly. Sakura looked up from her cards and nodded. "Well then let's duel."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked around nervously. "I don't think so, I'm still not really good."

"Well that's okay, we're not expecting you to be the greatest duelist ever or anything," Yūsei told her.

"I'd really rather not," Sakura told them.

"Aw come on, it'll be fun!" Crow urged. "Plus we still have a lot more to teach you."

"Look I said I'm not gonna play and I mean it, so just drop it!" Sakura shouted.

"Are you boys harassing this poor girl?" Martha scolded. She set down a plate of sandwiches.

"We were just asking her to duel," Kalin said.

"And I said no!" Sakura said.

"Well why not?" Jack asked.

"Boys!" Martha called, grabbing their attention. "She said no and you have to respect that. No means no, no matter who it's coming from. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Yūsei answered.

"Good." Martha nodded at the boys and turned towards Sakura, who had taken a bit of her sandwich. "Now, how did you end up in the Satellite?"

"I went to the docks and stowed away on a garbage boat," Sakura answered. "I'll just take the next one when it comes and go back home."

"You're leaving again?" Crow asked, frowning.

"I'm afraid she can't leave," Martha said sadly.

"Why not?" Yūsei asked.

"Well, so many people have been using those boats to try and sneak off the Satellite. So, they've built a pipeline to handle the garbage drop off. I'm afraid that the boat you took was the last one," Martha told her. Sakura looked at her and absorbed the information. She looked down at the table, her grip on the sandwich tightening.

"What are we going to do?" Kalin asked.

"I don't know," Martha said sadly. "I can try to talk to sector security and explain the situation but I don't know if they'll believe me."

"I don't care," Sakura said suddenly. Everyone looked at her in shock. "I'm not going back! I don't wanna!"

"But dear, you have to," Martha said, kneeling so she could look Sakura in the eyes. "You belong in the city, not here in the Satellite."

"But this is where the garbage goes," Sakura said. They looked at her in confusion. "I'm garbage. I'm broken. My parents think I'm trash, I'm broken, and I'm garbage." Tears fell down her cheeks. Sakura set her sandwich down and wiped her eyes.

"Oh sweetie, you're not garbage," Martha said, holding her close.

"I don't wanna! I don't wanna go back!" Sakura cried, hugging Martha.

"Then you'll stay here!" Crow said suddenly. Sakura looked at him in shock.

"Huh?" The boys shared a smile.

"Yeah, you can stay here!" Kalin agreed.

"I guess it'll be a bit of a hassle, but we'll get used to you," Jack said, shrugging it off and trying to play it cool.

"Boys, I appreciate your effort but she can't-"

"No means no Martha," Crow said smugly. "No matter who it's coming from!"

"There's no talking you boys out of this, is there?" Martha said with a smile.

"Nope!" they chorused.

"Well, Sakura, what do you say?" Martha asked. Sakura sniffed and looked at the four boys that she barely knew. All she really knew was their names. They were practically strangers. But then again, so were her parents. These boys were more to her than her own mother and father.

What did she have, going back home? A mother and father who would be furious with her? Scared of her? Locked in a room with no way out? But here, here she was being offered so much more. A home, a safe place, and people who actually seemed to care about her.

Sakura smiled and wiped the tears off her face. "I'd love to stay here." It wasn't that hard of a decision to make.

"Now, about that duel," Crow said mischievously.

"My answer is still no!" Sakura said quickly.

"You bounce back fast," Jack muttered.

"You wanna go blondie?" Sakura hissed.

"Think she'll be fine here?" Yūsei asked Martha.

"She'll fit right in," Martha told the young boy, a smile on her face.


End file.
